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Odds with the Enemy, 5 acts, 2 
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• 

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Initiating a Granger, 25 min. ..80 
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4 
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T. S. DENISON, Publisher, 163 Randolph St., Chicago. 



Odds with the Enemy 



JS. TyiRJ^lKTJ\. ^ 



IN FOUR ACTS 



A NEW REVISED EDITION 



ByTFS)^DEN1S0N 

Author of 

Odds with the Enemy, Initiating a Granger, Wanted, a Correspondent, A 
Family Strike, Seth Greenback, Louva the Pauper, Hans Von Smash, 
Borrowing Trouble, Two Ghosts in White, The Pull-Back, Country Jus- 
tice, The Assessor, The Sparkling Cup, Our Country, Irish Linen 
Peddler, The School Ma'am, Kansas Immigrants, An Only Daughter, 
Too Much of a Good Thing, Under the Laurels, Hard Cider, 
The Danger Signal, Wide Enough for Two, Pets of Society, 
Is the Editor In ? The New Woman, Patsy O'Wang, Re- 
jected, Only Cold Tea, Madam P's Beauty Parlors, Topp's 
Twins, A First-Class Hotel, It's all in the Pay-Streak, 
The Cobbler, A Dude in a Cyclone, Friday Dialogues. 

Also the Novels, 

The Man Behind, An Iron Crown, etc. 



2nd COPY, 

CHICAGO: 1898, 

T. S. DENISON, Publisher, 



163 Randolph Street. 

L. 



\S*M^^ 



2 ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 

CHARACTERS. 

Mrs. Linton, a widow in good circumstances, - 

Oscar Linton, her son, 

Alice Linton, her daughter, - --..'- 

Harry List, - - - - 

Lanty Nixon, grocer's clerk, 

Squire Simon Carter, a man of wealth, 

Nathan Carter, his nephew, adopted son of Mrs. Linton, 

Betsy Bluff, housemaid, who later becomes Mrs. L.'s 

companion, 

J. McClure Hopkinson, dry goods clerk, - 

Tabbs, colored servant of the Lintons, - - . - 

Phoebe Day, Squire's servant, 



Time of playing, one hour, forty- fii^e minutes. 



COSTUMES. i 



Any ordinary clothing suited to the station of the wearer. 
Soldiers in uniform. A soldier's coat will answer if com- 
plete uniform cannot be had. 



R, means right us the actor faces the audience: L, left; 



C, center, 



Copj'right, 1876, by T. S. Denison. 
Copyright, 1898, by T. S. Denison. 



ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 



ACT I. 



Scene: Mrs. Linton's Parlor. Boom elegantly furnished, 
giving evidences of wealth and refinement. Pictures on the 
ivalls; 2)iano K uj) near flat; sofa L up in comer; table down 
L C with chairs. Evening. 

Nathan. So Alice Linton walks away with that fellow 
without even excusing herself. I can hardly believe it ! To 
treat in this way one broug-ht up under the same roof, her 
equal in every respect, and a little better than §he is just at 
present. But her aristocratic notions which she airs so con- 
spicuously will soon be humbled, Nathe Carter, bide your 
time, and it will all come out right. Humph ! She forgets 
that her father was a spendthrift. A large part of the 
property which she proudly imagines to be hers will soon be 
the property of Simon Carter. Then, maybe, his nephew 
will not be such a bad catch after all. Maybe that will cause 
her to change her opinion on certain subjects. Confound it ! 
I would like to choke that young List when he comes hanging 
around Alice with his spoony talk. {Voices outside.) Hist! 
I hear them coming now. I can't face them after my dis- 
comfiture. I'd like to knaw how they do get along together. 
I'll employ a little stratagem to find out. {Creeps behind 
piano. B.) 

Enter Harry and Alice, X. • 

Alice. Take a seat, Harry. Take this arm-chair. 

Harry. This will do as well. That is yours. 

Alice. You need not refuse it, Harry. You must take 
it. You know you are partial to that chair. 

Harry. Yes, I am partial to that chair because it is 
yours. {Takes arm-chair, B. of table, Alice, L.) 

Nathan. {Aside.) Taffy I 

Alice. Harry, don't be foolish. How careless I am ! I 
have not taken mother the evening paper yet. Excuse me 
till T take it to her. 

Harry. Certainly. [Exit Alice, B.) Always the same. 
Whenever I hint my love for her, she changes the subject 
so adroitly I have not courage to renew it. Yet I have the 
best of reasons for believing that she cares more for me 
than her careless manner would indicate. 



4 ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 

Nathan. [Aside.) Don't be too sure ! 

Harry. [Starting.) I thought I heard some one. I have 
not courage to ask the plain question. I dare not contem- 
plate the possibility of a refusal. Perhaps, after all, she 
cares nothing for me, as her thoughtless raillery would seem 
to indicate. Would that I could read her thoughts toward 
me. Humph ! Maybe she does n't think of me at all. 

Enter Alice, i?. 

Alice. I've kept you waiting longer than I intended, 
Harry, But then you like that chair and this room so well 
that 1 presume you have not missed me much. 

Harry. Indeed I have. You do not know how much I 
always miss you, Alice, and how lonely I feel when (pauses) 

Alice. When you are alone. Ha, ha, what an idea that 
you should feel lonely when alone. 

Harry. Alice, if you would only listen to me • 

Alice. Now, Mr. Philosopher, if you intend delivering a 
lecture, please remember that the occasion is somewhat 
inappropriate, and the audience not sufficient to develop any 
latent powers of speech-making which you may possess. 
(A ijause.) What ails you to-night, anyhow, Harry? You 
look cross. 

Harry. Sometimes one does not wish to talk on every 
subject. 

Alice. Quite true, Harry. Let's talk about the war ; we 
must all be interested in that whether we will or not. Did 
you know nearly all the boys in the village have enlisted 
under Captain Wilson ? 

Harry. Yes ; and I wish I could go, too. 

Alice. Oh, don't think of it, Harry. I can't bear the 
idea of your going to the war. 

Harry. Why ? 

Alice. Oh, there would be no one to bring us the latest 
news, and we should be so lonesome, mother and I. There 
would be no one to help us while away our leisure hours, 
which grow more tedious every day. I was just wishing be- 
fore you came that you would drop in and spend the evening. 

Harry. Here I am, and you have your wish. 

Alice. You have not been here for a whole week. Is 
that the way for one old playmate to treat another V Harry, 
I shall have to ask you to explain. 

Harry. You just said you wished to talk about the war. 

Alice. Not when you talk of enlisting. It's horrid. 
What ever made you think of going i* 

Harry. I have several reasons. 

Alice. What are they ? 

Harry. In the first place, I think it is my duty to defend 
my country, and then father does not wish me to see you. 
For his sake it were better my visits here should cease. 



ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. » 

Alice. Harry, you are always welcome here ; mother 
likes to see you often. Then you know we have the claims 
of old acquaintance upon you. {Knocking.) Who can that 
be? {Goes to door, R.) Betsy, come in. 

Enter Betsy, R. 

Harry. (Aside.) I wonder if old acquaintanceship is my 
only claim here. 

Betsy. Good evening, Mr. List. 

Harry. Good evening, Betsy. 

Alice. Take a seat, Betsy. 

Betsy. No, thank you. I shall not intrude. 

Harry. No intrusion at all. 

Alice. Nonsense, Betsy! I should think you would 
know better than to talk about intrusion ; sit down. Betsy, 
you are the same as one of the family, and Harry comes to 
see the whole family. Isn't that so, Harry ? 

Harry. Yes. 

Tabbs. {Enters L., aside.) If dat's a fac*, all de family 
'eludes me, too. 

Harry. Sit down, Betsy, and we will have a social chat. 
(All take seats, Betsy, L.) 

Tabbs. {Aside.) Dat doesn't 'elude dis individual. 
{Aloud.) Miss Alice. 

Alice. Why, when did you come in, Tabbs '? 

Tabbs. Jes' about three-quarters of a moment ago to the 
bes' of my reelection. Massa Nixon's waitin' at de dooh. 
{Betsy jumps up. All rise and look toward door, L.) 

Alice. Lanty Nixon? Show him in at once. Don't run 
away, Betsy. 

Betsy. I shan't run away, but I'd like to know what he 
wants here this time of night. 

Nathan. {Aside.) I'm in a pretty fix. {Puts out head.) 

Alice. He has come to deliver groceries, perhaps. 

Betsy. Groceries, indeed ! He has been here twice 
already to-day with groceries. 

Nathan. {Aside.) He'll stay all night. 

Lanty enters, L , followed by Tabbs. 

Lanty. Good evening to you all. 

Alice. Come in, Mr. Nixon. 

Betsy. Good evening, Lanty. 

Harry. Hello, Nixon ! Just back from town ? 

Alice. Take a seat, Lanty. We are so glad you have 
come. Is there any news? 

Lanty. Yes, a telegram 

Tabbs. Miss Alice, may I listen to the news? 

Alice. Yes, stay and hear it, Tabbs. {All seated hut 
Tahhs.) 

Lanty. A telegram has just come stating that there has 



G ODDS WITH THE EXEiNIY. 

been another g-reat battle and that the union army is routed 
with fearful slaughter. 

Alice. I hope it isn't true ! {Calls at door, B.) Mother, 
there is bad news. 

Enter Mrs. L., i?. 

Mrs. L. {Eagerly.) What is the news? 

Lanty. Union men defeated. 

Harry. It must be a rebel report. 

Mrs. L. We can only trust in God and hope. 

Harry. And get long-range guns. 

Mrs. L. What dreadful news ! And yet in our Impatience 
we long to hear of battles, and are disappointed if they do 
not occur almost daily. Who would have thought, a few 
short years ago, that brothers would so soon deluge our 
country in blood? And then the bitter end! for when that 
time comes the victor will only have bruised his weaker 
brother. 

Betsy. Yes, but an erring brother. God's justice is 
sure, and the verdict of Heaven will be on the side of the 
right and against wrong and slavery. 

Harry. Nobly spoken, Betsy — 

" Truth crushed to earth will rise again; 
The eternal years of God are hers; 
But error wounded writhes in pain, 
And dies among her worshipers." 

Tabbs. It 's mighty nice to talk about de wardic of 
Heaven. But I'd jes like to know when dat wardic is to 
be given in. Sposen de jury can't agree and de court journs 
over two or three times, what will become of all dese fightin' 
combatifants den ? Gineral Jackson ! Dey'll all be done 
killed off before dey eber hear of de wardic. 

Mrs. L. Have faith, Tabbs. The Lord v/ill fight the 
battles of the just. 

Harry. But, Mrs. Linton, even the Lord can not fight 
battles without instruments to carry out his purposes. I 
feel to-night that everyone who is able to bear arms should 
take part, and that I should be in the field fighting for my 
country. 

Alice. You, Harry! Why, how you talk ! You know 
we can not spare you, and there are older hands enough. 
You are but a boy. 

Harry. Yes, I am a boy, but even boys can help defend 
their countr3^ 

Mrs. L. That's right, Harry. Your metal has the true 
ring. (ExU, li. Others seated except Tahhs.) 

Tabbs. Massa Harry 's right. His kind of faith would 
remove de mountains of Sodom and cast them into de sea 
i)f Saharry. 



ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 7 

Betsy. Mountains of Sodom I Sea of Sahara ! Tabbs, 
Sodom was a city of the plain, and Sahara is a g-reat desert. 

Tabbs. Sodom a city of de plain I If dat's de case, why 
did the Scripter ask Jacob to flee into de mountains, if dere 
were no mountains to flee into V 

Alice. That was Lot, Tabbs. 

Tabbs. 'Spose it was Mr. Lot. A miss in de name don't 
spile de argument. 

Lanty. Stick to it, Tabbs. You have the best of it. 

Tabbs. Thankee, Massa Nixon. You don't catch dis 
individual nappin' whar de Scripter am consarned. 

Lanty. Tabbs, are you versed in profane history? 

Tabbs. Do you spose dis darky waited on Massa two 
years for nothin', while he was settin' on de flooh of de 
legislator? Massa Nixon, I'm proud to say dat my limited 
knowledge of profane history am mostly 'quired by observa- 
tion durin' dat public career. 

Alice. How very wise you must be, Tabbs, if you have 
profited by all the experience of your eventful life, public 
and private. 

Tabbs. Reckon Massa Linton would have been wealthier 
and wiser if he had listened to the advice of a sartin person. 

Alice. What do you mean, Tabbs? 

Tabbs. Well, if Massa hadn't had no dealins with Simon 
Carter, it would have been better for him. Jes like desc 
genrous, w^hole-souled chaps. Dey's so awful maganimous 
deirselves, dat dey never spect anybody else is mean till it 
is too late. Mebbe it ain't too late yet to give a little advice 
though. 

Alice. What do you mean? 

Tabbs. I reckon if Massa Linton had always put away 
his papers into a safe place, Missa Linton would have had 
some big dockiments now. 

Alice. Do you refer to father's private papers which 
were lost ? 

Tabbs. Yes, Miss Alice. And I also infer to some papers 
which de late deceased Mr. Linton did n't write. 

Harry. Tabbs, drop your big words and tell us plainly 
what you do mean. 

Tabbs. Massa Harry, I'se beendroppin' big words round 
like ripe chestnuts arter a frost. Ain't dat a fac'? I mean 
dat Massa Linton never owed Squire Carter in his life, and 
dat Massa never give him clem big notes. 

Lanty. I've guessed as much for some time. 

Alice. Tabbs, are you aware of the serious nature of the 
charges you make against my guardian, Simon Carter? 

Tabbs. Charges ! Shan't charge a cent. Miss Alice, for 
dese facs. But it's all true. Didn't I hear Massa tell Massa 
Williams, that week before he died, that he didn't owe 
nobody nothing. 



8 ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 

Alice. Tabbs, you must not let an accidental remark 
lead you to such serious conclusions. Perhaps father did 
not know at that time the exact condition of those invest- 
ments he and Mr. Carter made together. 

Tabbs. Jes so, Miss Alice. An' no one will ever know 
de zact condition of dem vestments 'ceptin' Simon Carter, 
and mebbe his next of kin, Nathe. 

Lanty. Tabbs, do you know anything- to justify your 
suspicions? 

Tabbs. Yes, Massa, I knows rwjsiderable more than dis 
individual's gwine to tell, until the indigencies of de case 
requiahs de facs. 

Harry., Tabbs, you have nothing but your own sus- 
picions, and those only because you do not like the Carters. 

Tabbs. Nothing but 'spicions, eh ? I see de maligencies 
of de case requiahs a plain enclosure of de facs. 

Betsy. You mean the exigencies of the case require a 
disclosure of the facts. 

Tabbs. I said exidigencies. But we will not argy dat 
point. Here 's de facs. Didn't I hear Massa Nathe and 
his Uncle Simon talking busy about Massa Linton's business? 

Nathan. (Shoivs head and shoulders, and shakes fist at 
Tabhs.) 

Tabbs. An when I see dey w^as so desput in arnest, I 
stopped on the stairs to listen, if it was sort of mean, an I 
heerd two mighty mean men layin' plans. 

Nathan. {Aside.) {Business of rage.) 

Alice. Well, go on, Tabbs. 

Tabbs. Massa Nathe says to squire, says he, " You know, 
Uncle, dem papers are taken care of, now how's we gwine 
to fix up matters?" An Squire Carter says, " We'll jes put 
in plenty of claims an try to get a mortgage on de farm for 
de present. Afterwards we can tighten de screws jes as 
we please if dat gal don't come to a favorable elusion." 

LANTY^ The villains ! 

Harry. Can this be true? 

Tabbs. True as preaching. {Exit, B. 

Betsy. Neither of them is too good for such villainy, in 
my opinion. 

Alice. Don't be hasty. I can not hear my adopted 
brother and guardian thus spoken of. Where can Nathan 
be to-night ? It is time he was home. 

Harry. Lanty, that reminds me it is time we were at 
home, too. 

Alice. No, I didn't mean that. Don't be in a hurry. 

Harry'. Really we must go. It is getting late. Good 
night. 

Lanty. Good night. {Exeunt, L.) 

Betsy. That is a strange story. 

Alice. Do not repeat it, Betsy. 



ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 9 

Betsy. I must see to the kitchen for the night. [Exit, 
B.) 
Alice. And I'll g-o upstairs to mother. [Exit, R.) 
Nathan. [Comes out brushiny off dust.) Aha! They 
know our plans, do they? All throug-h that black rascal, 
Tabbs. He shall leave the place. There is always a way to 
g-et rid of a spy. Alice herself does n't believe him. No, 
she trusts me still. So much the better. Tabbs is easily 
disposed of, and then we shall see who wins, Harry List or I. 

Enter Mrs. L. at B. 

Mrs. L. You here, Nathan? 

Nathan. Yes, I was looking for a book I left some- 
where. [Exit, L.) 

Mrs. L. Oh, this continual trouble ! Since my husband's 
death, there has been nothing but worry over his affairs. 
Claim foUoAvs claim, until I fear nothing will be left. [Knock- 
ing heard.) Who is that? [Goes to the door, L.) 

Enter Tabbs, X., showing in Simon Carter. 

Squire. How are you, Mrs. Linton? I hope you are 
well. 

Mrs. L. I 'm quite well, thank you. Take a seat. 

Squire. ( Takes chair hy table. ) Fine day for the soldiers 
to say good-bye. 

Mrs. L. Why, have they gone? 

Squire. Yes. One company from Afton. Lintonville 
boys may go soon. There was a terrible bluster down among 
the cabins on the creek. Women and 'children crying. 
The men were half-crying, too. Should n't think they would 
care a great deal, as they do n't leave much behind. 

Mrs. L. They leave their wives and children behind, 
and nothing should be dearer to men than these. Those 
who have experienced such partings best know how bitter 
they are. 

Squire. Very true. It is natural to feel such things. 
We are all human when it comes to that. 

Tabbs. [Adjusting window curtain. Aside.) Do n't know 
about dat. 

Mrs. L. This cruel war will bring sorrow to many hearts 
that have never known a care. Is there no better w"ay than 
bloodshed to settle differences of opinion? 

Squire. Differences of opinion may be honest, yet irrecon- 
cilable. So the sword must decide. But I 've come to see 
you on a little matter of business. I want to see what can be 
done toward settling up my accounts with your husband's 
estate. You know I have made out my claims entirely 
from my books, including those old notes. 

Tabbs. [Aside.) Plaguy old notes. 



10 ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 

Mrs. L. Yes, I know you were preparing- a statement, 
and I '11 be obliged to trust to the accuracy of your accounts, 
since my husband's private papers have so unaccountably 
disappeared. 

Squire. Very mysteriously, indeed. Have you no clue 
to their whereabouts? 

Mrs. L. None. I have given up the search as hopeless. 

Squire. And I, too, think there is little probability of 
your ever seeing them again. 

Tabbs. [Aside.) Mos' likely you doesn't. {Aloud.) Dey're 
gone, sure. 

Mrs. L. Tabbs, you may go. 

Squire. Why, are you here, Tabbs? Go at once. We 
have private business that must not be heard by everyone. 

Tabbs. {Aside, going.) Not de fust business he didn't 
want everyone to hear. [Exit, H.) 

Squire. That nigger acts surly lately. "What ails him? 

Mrs. L. I 've seen no change in Tabbs. 

Squire. Well, he 'd be a little more prompt if he worked 
for me. Well, as I was saying, I have those matters in 
good shape at last, and am now ready to settle at once. 

Mrs. L. If there is a balance in your favor, I fear that I 
shall not be ready to settle immediately. 

Squire. There is quite a balance in my favor. 

Mrs. L. Mercy me ! We shall be homeless yet. 

Squire. I am very sorry, Madame, to be obliged to break 
this unpleasant news to you. But I am not able to lose the 
money, and, though administrator of the estate, I must 
present my claims with the other creditors. 

Mrs. L. You do but your duty in claiming your own. I 
will pay you every cent, if my child and myself are left 
penniless. 

Squire. It will not be so bad as that. 

Mrs. L. What does the estate owe you? 

Squire. A small amount comparatively; only some seven 
thousand dollars. 

Mrs. L. a very large amount, considering our other 
debts. Then my husband was deeply involved ? 

Squire. He was. He lost heavily in oil speculations. 
The bulk of my claim is for money loaned at that time. 
Without my help he would probably have been bankrupt 
then. 

Mrs. L. What settlement can we make without sacri- 
ficing everything? 

Squire. Oh, take your time. Give me a mortgage on 
the real estate, and j)ay it oft" at your leisure. 

Mrs. L. 'Tis the last resort, but better than to sell it to 
strangers. I will give you the mortgage, and trust to Provi- 
dence for the means of joaying it off. 

Squire. I '11 not be hard at all, and then, maybe, some 



4 



ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. U 

of those old investments will pan out all rig-ht. Now, since 
we have settled up that business satisfactorily, there 's 
another little affair I 'd like to mention. 

Mrs. L. What is that ? 

Squire. You know my nephew, Nathan, is very fond of 
Alice. 

Mrs. L. It would be very strang-e if he were not, for 
their relations have always been those of brother and sister. 

Squire. Pshaw I There is no brotherly love about it. 
It is all the real thing. He wants to marry the girl. He 
will some day have all my property, and will be well-to- 
do in the world. As for his bringing up, you know what 
that is. They would make a splendid match. 

Mrs. L. To be properly mated, young people must love 
each other, and I doubt if Alice entertains any other feeling 
for Nathan than that of a sister's love. 

Squire. There is a great deal of moonshine about the 
loves of young people. When I wanted to marry Matilda 
Williams, I just went and asked her father about it, and he 
said 3'es. The girl said something about not loving me as 
well as she should love a husband. I told her love would 
come in time, and her father said the same. We were 
married, and we always got along without any trouble. If I 
do say it myself, I never knew a quieter, more obedient 
wife. 

Mrs. L. I do n't doubt her obedience, Mr. Carter, not in 
the least, but I do doubt the propriety of such marriages. 
Alice is too young to think of marrying yet. When she is 
of proper age, she shall choose for herself. I shall not 
attempt to dictate to her upon the subject of marriage. A 
mother's advice is all I have to otTer, and if I were offering 
anyone advice now, it would be for Nathan to give up all hope 
of ever winning Alice, for I am sure her heart is already 
another's. 

Squire. You mean Harry List, I suppose? And can you 
consent for one of your family's most bitter enemies to marry 
your only child ? Do you not fear the old feud will stand 
in the way of their happiness? 

Mrs. L. That feud was a senseless, causeless quarrel, 
which I hope will be forever consigned to oblivion by its 
youngest representatives. 

Squire. Mrs. Linton, I am astonished to hear you speak 
so. You hope this for the furtherance of a love match 
between those representatives, eh ? 

Mrs. L. Mr. Carter, I beg you will not misunderstand 
me in a way which reflects so decidedly upon my candor, and 
implies an intrigue upon my part. Of all things I despise 
hypocrisy and intrigue. (Rises, indignantly.) 

Squire. (Bises, embarrassed.) Oh, as to that, I beg par- 
don, Mrs. Linton. I did n't mean to reflect: never thought 



12 ODDS WITH THE ENEMY, 

of such a thing'. But you can see that the consequences of 
such a union mig'ht prove disastrous. Could you not influ- 
ence Alice to reg-ard Nathan more favorably? 

Mrs. L. I will never advise her to marry a man she does 
not love. 

Squire. That is your decision, then? 

Mrs. L. It is. 

Squire. Very well. I like people to decide such thing's 
in a plain, outspoken way. I can respect such decisions as 
that, but you have made a mistake. [Going.) Good even- 
ing-, Mrs. Linton. 

Mrs. L. Good night, Mr. Carter. [Exit, JR.) 

Squire. [Passing out, L., as Mrs. Li. passes out, R.) She 
may come down yet from her pedestal of pride. Ay, to beg 
my favor on her knees. (Met at door by Nathan, who enters.) 

Nathan. Well, Uncle, what success? 

Squire. [Re-entering.) Curse it, no success at all. That 
girl doesn't care a straw for you. But I did succeed, too. 
The mortgage is all right, and that will bring both mother 
and daughter to terms. 

Nathan. Uncle, it looks pretty hard to defraud helpless 
women in that way. I would like to have the girl and her 
property if they could be had honorably, but I almost wish 
we had never begun to work by unfair means. 

Squire. Bah! Don't turn coward and indulge in con- 
scientious scruples now, when it is too late. 

Nathan. You may well say conscientious scruples, for 
what we have begun is certainly wrong. It would be base 
ingratitude in me to betray those who have been my best 
friends. 

Squire. Nonsense, Nathan I It will be all right when 
the property is yours and the girl your wife; can *t she enjoy 
it, and can 't her mother share it, too, for that matter? 
"Stratagem is fair in love and in war." It will all be in 
the family still. 

Nathan. I hadn't thought of it in that light before. 
Maybe all will be well in the end. I hope it will, since 
we are into the ugly business. But, did you know that 
Tabbs suspects us? 

Squire. What ! How did he find that out ? 

Nathan. Overheard our conversation. He has already 
told Alice, but she does not believe him. 

Squire. He must be disposed of. 

Nathan. But how? 

Squire. Trust me for that. I '11 find some way. 

Nathan. Hush, Uncle ! We must not remain here talk- 
ing. We may be overheard again. 

Squire. You are right. I must go at once. [Exeunt, 
L.) 

Curtain. 



ODDS WITH THE ENExMY. 13 



ACT II. 

Scene: Same as Act I. Time, a feiv days later. Discovered 
Alice Linton and Nathan Carter. 

Alice, Nathan, why do you insist? My only answer 
can be no. 

Nathan. Hear me out, Alice. Do all our years of 
friendship not speak for me'? 

Alice. But friendship is not love. No, it can never be. 

Nathan. May I not hope? 

Alice. It is best not to hope where hope is vain. 

Nathan. You harden your heart against me. 

Alice. I have not hardened my heart towards you, 
Nathan. I will speak plainly. I love another. 

Nathan. I knew it. 

Alice. I love you with a sister's love, and you can not 
know how it pains me to answer you thus, knowing as I do 
what misery that answer will cost you. Nathan, for your 
own sake and mine, never mention this subject to me again, 
for we never can be aught to each other but brother and 
sister. 

Nathan. Stop! (Alice exit, B.) I am decided. Fair 
means will not win. Fate makes me a villain. {Follows^ R.) 

Enter Betsy, B., meeting Nathan. 

Betsy. Mr. Nathan looks decidedly blue to-day. I know 
what's the matter, though. He has been declaring his love 
for Alice Linton again, and has got another refusal for his 
pains. What stupid idiots men are ! They can 't take a . 
hint. Some of them will hanker around and ask half a 
dozen times if a woman refuses them. Others will keep 
coming and coming but never have courage enough to ask a 
plain question. I have no patience with either sort, and 
Lanty Nixon is one of the latter. Why doesn't he speak 
his mind ? Goodness knows he has chances enough ! If he 
doesn't soon make his intentions known I'll just bestow a 
little attention somewhere else. Lanty is jealous of that 
crack-brained fop who signs himself J. McClure Hopkinson. 
Well, he is too nice for this world. I don't care, though. 
He can be agreeable. {Knocking heard.) Who's there? 
{Goes to door, L.) Come in, Lanty. 

Lanty. Betsy — I mean Miss Bluff — I have called in to 
tell Mrs. Linton I left the groceries at the kitchen door. 

Betsy. Very well; I will call Mrs. Linton. 

Lanty. No, it 's unnecessary. Miss Bluft'. I '11 tell you 
what I brought. {Approaches closely.) There was ten 
pounds 



14 ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 

Betsy. You need not get so close, Lanty. I 'm not hard 
of hearing. 

Lanty. No, but you see I am responsible for these 
groceries, and I 'm going to see that they are all properly 
inventoried by some responsible person. 

Betsy. What do you mean by responsible person? 

Lanty. See here, Betsy, I 'm in a hurry; so, if you please, 
we will not go into an argument. There were ten pounds of 
coffee, one codfish (not one of the aristocracy, either), and 
fifteen pounds of sugar as sweet as — [Kisses her.) 

Betsy. {Slaps Mm.) Lanty, you 're a fool. 

Lanty. Maybe I am, Betsy: but I 'm sure of one thing. 

BETSY^ What is that ? 

Lanty. I know a good article when I *ve sampled it. 

Betsy. Get out, you good-for-nothing! 

Lanty. Betsy, listen a minute. I wish to ask you a 
question. 

Betsy. Oh, do you? [Aside.) Going to pop at last. 
[Aloud.) Go on, Lanty, I am listening. 

Lanty. Why did you devote yourself to that addle- 
pated Hopkinson, the other night, at Jones' party? 

Betsy. Is that any difference to you? Can 't I entertain 
whoever I please without asking you? 

Lanty. I suppose you can, if you choose to slight your 
friends. 

Betsy. Slight my friends ! Humph I Must I sit and 
entertain you all the time ? You don't seem to appreciate 
it any too well. 

Lanty. You know well enough what that Hopkinson is. 

Betsy. What is he? 

Lanty, He is nothing but a sniffling, stuck-up counteK- 
hopper. 

Betsy. Yes, he is a counter-hopper, but he does not 
handle cheese and codfish and greasy bacon. Lanty, it is 
so nice to go a-shopping- there, and have hini display his goods. 
[Coquettishly.) How charmingly he handles the yard-stick! 

Lanty'. I 'd like to break his head with it. 

Enter Tabbs, L. 

Tabbs. Could n't do it, Massa Lanty, for did n't Miss 
Alice read in de Filosomy dat a hollow tube am stronger 'n 
a solid one. Miss Betsy, here am a card from a gemman 
below. 

Betsy. [Reads.) " J. McClure Hopkinson." Show him 
in, Tabbs. [Bustle of seeing if she is presentable, etc.) 

Enter Tabbs, followed by J. Mc. 

J. Mc. [With affected lisp.) Ah! Good aftehnoon. Miss 
Bluff". How aw you? I hope you are well. 

Betsy. I am quite well, thank you. How are you? 



ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 15 

J. Mc. Very well, indeed. Good aftehnoon, Mistah 
Nixon. 
Lanty. Good day, Mr. Hopkinson. 
Betsy. Take seats, gentlemen. (J. Mc. takes a seat.) 
J. Mc. Ah ! Yes, thank you ; hawdly have time, though. 

(Seated J. Mc, B. C; Betsy, B.; Lanty, L. of table; 

Tabbs stands, L.) 

Tabbs. {Aside.) Golly, he 's a stunner, suah ! 

J. Mc. I thought I would call, ah ! I did not know— ah— 
but you might walk down to the depot to see the soldiah 
boys off this aftehnoon. As I passed here, I thought I would 
stop. Perhaps we might go togetheh. 

Betsy. Nothing would please me better than to accom- 
pany you. 

J. Mc. Ah, indeed ! Thank you ; aw you ready? 

Betsy. I shall be ready in a moment. Excuse mc. 

J. Mc. Certainly; certainly. {Betsy exit, B.) 

Tabbs. {Aside to 'La'NTY.) Massa Lanty, your cake am 
dough for dis evening anyway. 

J. Mc. Do you think of enlisting, Mistah Nixon. 

Lanty'. (Fierceb/.) No, I do not. 

J. Mc. Beg pardon ; I did n't know but you would. Most 
young men desiah to rush to arms, but for my part I prefeh 
to stay at home. 

Tabbs. And rush into arms. Hit 's mighty sweet to rush 
into arms at home. Dis individual- is willin to serve his 
country dat way, too. 

Lanty. Patriots of that stripe are as plenty as bad 
excuses and just as useful. A great many stay at home 
because they are unwilling to defend the country which 
protects them. 

J. Mc. Oh ! ah ! Did I understand (Indignantly. 

Both rise. Enter Betsy.) Ah ! aw you ready. Miss Bluff? 

Betsy. I am ready. Good afternoon, Mr. Nixon. You 
will excuse my abrupt departure. Good afternoon. 

Lanty. Good afternoon, Miss Bluff. I 'm obliged to you 
for your kindness, but 

J. Mc. Good aftehnoon, Mistah Nixon. {Exeunt, L.) 

Lanty. Well, that 's decidedly cool. 

Tabbs. If de enemy 'd get him dey would put him in de 
imaginary wid de babboons. 

Lanty. Confound the impudent puppy. What a fool 
I' ve been ! Blind as a bat ! 

Tabbs. Massa Lanty, excuse dis individual in correctin' 
. one little mistake of yours. 
Lanty. What is that ? 

Tabbs. Massa Nixon, I 'se gwine to state plain facs, and 
you mus 'nt get riled, either. 
Lanty. Well, go on ; hang it. 



16 ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 

Tabbs. 'Stead of Massa Hopkinson 's beein a puppy it 
was Massa Nixon. Why? 'Case Massa Nixon's eyes wasn't 
opened. 

Lanty. Shut up, you black rascal. {Kicks him as he 
escajjes, B.) 

Enter Mrs. L. and Alice, B. 

Mrs. L. Why, Lanty! What are you doing? 

Lanty. Nothing-. We were only joking. 

Tabbs. (Be-enters.) What would he do if he was in 
arnest ? I 'd jes like to know? 

Alice. Tabbs is always joking, and we never know when 
you are in earnest. 

Lanty. For once in my life I shall do something dead in 
earnest. 

Alice. What is that, Lanty? 

Lanty. I shall enlist to-morrow. 

Mrs. L. Why, you said this morning you were not going 
to the army. 

Lanty. I have changed my mind. 

Alice. Is everybody going to the war? Why do you 
look so grave? Anything wrong between you and Betsy? 

Tabbs. Reckon Miss Betsy's grief won't — 

Lanty. Tabbs, I can manage my affairs without your 
assistance. 

Tabbs. Yes, massa. {Exit, L.) 

Lanty. I guess there is nothing wrong. I 've changed 
-my mind; that's all. {Exit^ L.) 

Alice. I 'm going to speak to Betsy. [Exit, B.) 

Mrs. L. These are, indeed, troublous times. My poor 
husband's estate is in very bad condition. I fear that we 
shall have little left. Mr. Carter makes such bad reports 
as administrator. I have never doubted his honesty, even 
though ugly rumors were afloat many years ago concerning 
him. Can Tabbs' story be true? No, I have good reason to 
believe that my husband's affairs were involved. That 
mortgage places ,us in the power of Simon Carter, and his 
language seemed like a menace. He almost threatened me 
if I did not consent to Alice's marrying his nephew, Nathan. 

Enter Alice, B. 

Alice. Mother, have you heard the news? 

Mrs. L. No, Alice. What is it ? 

Alice. George Harley ran away from home last night, 

Mrs. L. Impossible. It can 't be true ! 

Alice. But it is true. Mother. Susan Harley has just 
been here and told Betsy all about it. 

Mrs. L, Poor boy! Sometime he will repent his folly. 
Mrs. Harley's grief brings back to me the sad remembrance 



ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 17 

of our own poor wanderer, laid to rest in a strange land, 
your own brother, Oscar. 

Alice. Dear mother, do not call him lost. I feel that he 
is yet alive, and will some day return to us despite his fool- 
ish vow. 

Mrs. L. The evidence of his death and burial is too 
strong" to allow us to cherish such delusive hopes. 

Alice. Oh, mother, don't speak so. You know that I 
cherish the hope that he is alive yet as dearer than all else. 

Enter Tabbs, L. 

Tabbs. {Aside.) 'Ceptin' Massa Harry. Beg parding for 
interruptin' de felicities of dis occasion, but 

Alice. Tabbs, will you never learn to stop your high- 
flown gibberish ? Leave us. Our conversation is private. 

Tabbs. Private ! Dat 's what de cruitin officer wanted 
me to be. Dis chile prefers to be 'scused from private life 
jes now. 

Alice. Tabbs, leave this room instantly. 

Mrs. L. Alice, Tabbs does not deserve rebuke. His 
genial good nature has often sent a ray of sunshine through 
this house when all around was gloomy. 
'Tabbs. {Grins.) Dat 's right I 

Alice. Well, what do you want ? 

Tabbs. Your pardon, Missa, but de gemman, Massa 
Harry, is done tired waitin'. 

Mrs. L. Is Harry at the door? Show him in at once, 
Tabbs. 

Alice. Tabbs never will learn how to announce com- 
pany. 

Tabbs retires, L., Re-enters, bowing in Harry List. 

Harry'. Good morning, ladies. 

Mrs. L. Good morning. Hairy. 

Alice. Harry, I'm so glad that you have come. We 
have been making arrangements for a picnic for Captain 
Wilson's Company next Thursda3% and we shall need you 
to help get things ready. Take a seat, Harry, till I tell you 
all about it. {All seated, Harry, L. of table, Mrs. L. and 
Alice, B.) 

Harry. I have another engagement for that day, which 
will prevent me from assisting you. I suspect Captain 
Wilson's Company will dine out that day. 

Alice. An engagement which will prevent you from 
assisting ! The Company will dine out I Of course they will 
— in the open air. None of your jokes, Harry. 

Harry. I 'm not joking. I was never more in earnest in 
my life. 

Alice. What do you mean, Harry? 

Harry. I 've enlisted. 



18 ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 

Harry. Yes ; I have enrolled my name in Captain 
Wilson's Company. To-day I shall put on the blue for three 
years, or during the war. 

Alice. Oh, Harry, how could you ! We never can endure 
to lose you, perhaps forever. Oh, the cruelty of war ! 

Mrs. L. Be calm, my child, Harry is yet safe. We must 
trust to God to preserve him. Harry, this is sudden. Have 
you your father's consent ? Why have you resolved so sud- 
denly to leave a comfortable home and brave the dangers of 
the battlefield ? 

Harry. This morning- father asked me again to cease 
my visits here. I refused. He said I had gone over to the 
enemy. We had words. I told him that his objections 
were founded upon prejudices which should have been for- 
gotten long ago, and that I respected his wishes but could not 
admit his right to choose for me. In a violent passion he 
ordered me to obey him or leave his house and nevermore 
call myself his son. Now, I wish to say to you something 
which I had long hoped to say under more auspicious cir- 
cumstances and with father's approval. Mrs. Linton, I love 
Alice dearly. I ask you to let her be my wife, if I am for- 
tunate enough ever to return from the army alive. Her 
answer I have guessed already. Alice, have I guessed 
right ? 

Alice. Yes, dear Harry, yes. 

Mrs. L. Harry, you are both young. Alice is too young 
to think of plighting her faith to anyone for years. And 
then our future is so uncertain. Her father's affairs are yet 
unsettled — we may have plenty; we may be left in want. 
The old feud between your kindred and Alice's can you ever 
forget ? 

Harry. I remember it as a thing which should be for- 
ever banished out of sight. 

Mrs. L. Have you considered the consequences of this 
estrangement from your father? Is it wise to bi*ing into 
such close relations those whom years of enmity may 
sunder? 

Harry. It were better than to blight two lives with 
grudges in which they had no part. 

Mrs. L. True, my brave boy, but there is plenty of time. 
When you return from the battlefield crowned with honors, 
as I know you must, if God spares you, Alice shall decide. 

Harry. God bless you, Mrs. Linton. If the foeman 
spares me I shall return to claim Alice as my bride. 

Alice. Oh; Harry, you icill return safe. 

Harry. Yes, dear! But time presses. The company 
starts at three. 

Alice. [Very grave.) Oh, so soon? 



ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 19 

Harry. Yes; it 's a short parting-. Good-bye, 

Alice. And we don 't see you any more? Oh, Harry — 

HARRY^ I may get a furlough in a year! 

Alice. Oh, dear. 

Harry. {Taking her liands.) Good-bye! 

Alice. Oh, Harry, I can 't say good-bye that way. 

Mrs. L. Bear up, dear, as a soldier's sweetheart. 

Harry. I '11 be a general yet. 

Alice. (Laughing.) The idea ! 

Mrs. L. [Taking his hand.) Dear Harry, God be with 
you. 

Harry. He will be with my country. (Dnnoing Alice 
to him, hisses her. She clings to him convulsirflu a moment. 
He hisses Mrs. L., and hurriedhj goes, L.)_ Adieu ! 

Mrs. L. Good-bye. 

Alice. Farewell, Harry. (Harry exit, waving adieu with 
right hand. Alice falls on motlier'^s shoulder and weeps 
silently. 

Curtain. 



ACT III. 



Scene: Mrs. L. seated by a table sewing. Room poorly fur- 
nished. Evidences of great poverty. Three years have elapsed 
between Act II. and III. 

Knocking. Mrs. L. opens door, L. Squire Carter 

appears. 

Mrs. L. Simon Carter! 

Squire. Good morning, Mrs. Linton. I hope you. are 
well. 

Mrs. L. You hope I am well ! You who have blig-hted a 
once happy household. Dare you speak the word hope? 

Squire. Mrs. Linton, I have not come here to call up 
the bitter things of the past. Let us forget them. 

Mrs. L. You taunt me with my wrongs when you speak 
of the past. 

Squire. I am not here to speak of what might have 
been but of what may yet be. 

Mrs. L. What can you have to say to me? Why do you 
presume to enter this house? Poor as it is it has never been 
contaminated by the presence of such as Simon Carter. 

Squire. Mrs. Linton, we have been enemies, but let 
enmity listen to reason. • May you not have judged too 
severely? Your late husband's property passed to his 
creditors, of whom I was the principal one. Your home- 
stead became mine under a mortgage which you gave will- 
ingly and of which you admitted the justice. You and your 
daughter have- hardened your hearts against me and my 



20 ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 

nephew, Nathan, who once was called your son. It is for 
him I have come to speak. Whatever slights I may have 
endured are forgotten. He has always been your friend. 
He would again be your son and more than a brother to 
Alice. Will you accept a reconciliation? 

Mrs. L. And is this your mission? Our interview is 
ended. 

Squire. Then you prefer poverty to comfort ? 

Mrs. L. Ay, a thousand times better poverty than one 
penny of your hated wealth or this degrading alliance. 
[Turns mvay.) 

Squire. (Aside.) Unyielding as adamant. Our title is 
unsafe, and the boys may come home any day. (Aloud.) Mrs. 
Linton, I have been talking to-day with Mr. List about this 
house. You know it is so close to my property that it really 
detracts from the value of my residence quite materially. 
I believe you thought it an eye-sore when you occupied the 
Linton Mansion. If we must be enemies more than a stone's 
throw should separate us. 

Mrs. L. And you wish Mr. List to turn us out of the 
house, and pull it down, do you? 

Squire. I have only to say the word. 

Mrs. L. Mr. List, though my enemy, is too honorable to 
persecute the helpless. 

Squire. Humph ! He has no choice in the matter. 

Mrs. L. You are strong and I am weak, but in the sense 
of duty done, and in the approval of a conscience at peace 
with its possessor, there is a bulwark of safety which your 
guilty soul has never known, Simon Carter. 

Squire. I never knew a conscience which could shelter 
its possessor from wind or rain. You know Mr. List '? 

Mrs. L. Yes, I do know Mr. List as the lifelong enemy of 
our family, yet I shall appeal to his sense of justice. 

Squire. We will see about that. In the meantime con- 
sider the proposition I have made. Nathan will talk the 
matter over with Alice. Good day, Mrs. Linton. (Exit, L.) 

Mrs. L. Have our persecutions begun anew? Why is 
Simon Carter so anxious that Nathan should marry Alice? 
They have our property. What more can they want ? I 
fear they have some other dreadful scheme to put into 
execution. 

Enter Betsy, B. 

Mrs. L. Betsy, is it not time for Alice to return? 

Betsy. Yes, and I saw her coming down the road with 
Nathan Carter. 

Alice. (Entering, followed by Nathan.) Never, never 
will I be your wife, and I never want to see your face again. 

Nathan. Ah ! Good morning, mother. Good morning, 
Miss BlulT. 



ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 21 

Mrs. L. Nathan Carter, you will please not call me 
mother. Once I fondly hoped you would fill the place of 
my own lost son. But the bitter wronefs which we have 
suffered at the hands of you and yours forbid that we should 
ever be aught to each other again but 



Nathan. Enemies. Let me say a word in self-defence. 

Mrs. L. Cruel injustice has been done and no defence 
can change a wrong to right. 

Nathan. No, very true. You may have had wrongs, 
and you will admit that we also had rights. 

Mrs. L. Strange rights that will turn helpless women 
from their homes destitute. 

Nathan. Mrs. Linton, have we claimed more than our 
own? Was not your husband's property justly forfeited to 
his creditors? Did we not agree for a penny? 

Betsy. For the last penny. 

Mrs. L. I do not complain of the payment but only of 
the manner of payment. Why was our homestead ruthlessly 
sold at such a sacrifice as ruined us? Why were we not 
given a little time until friends could have aided us? 

Nathan. The mortgage was due and you failed to raise 
the money to release it. Uncle was pressed for means. 
What else could he do? But those things are done and can 
not be undone. Let us remember only the happy days when 
I was one of you. Perhaps the future can make some 
reparation. 

Mrs. L. Say no more. I know of what you would speak. 
You can make no reparation. 

Nathan. I can place you in the enjoyment of plenty, if 
Alice will only be my wife. 

Alice. I hate you. 

Mrs. L. Your wife, indeed I Can you ask a woman to 
become the wife of one who has wronged her so deeply? 
We are poor, but we will never redeem our own with the 
price of honor. 

Nathan. Wherein is the dishonor if she weds one who 
has long loved her ardently and devotedly? 

Mrs. L. And whom she despises from the very depths of 
her heart. Nathan Carter, if this is your only mission here 
you will oblige us by taking your leave at once. 

Nathan. {To Alice.) Is this your answer, then? 

Alice. You have heard your answer. If there is one 
spark of manhood in you leave this house at once and never 
desecrate it again with your hateful presence. 

Nathan. [Turns.) You needn't be so spiteful. I '11 win 
yet. {To Alice.) So you stubbornly persist in your foolish 
course. Then if want humbles your pride you can not lay 
the blame upon me. Heaven is my witness that I have tried 
to help you. Mrs. Linton, Alice secured her situation as 
teacher in the village school through my influence. That 



22 ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 

favor has not been appreciated, and I can- bestow it in more 
grateful hands. Adieu, ladies, until we meet ag-ain. {Exit, L.) 

Mrs. L. Until we meet a<;ain ! When will our pursuers 
rest satisfied in their persecution! 

Betsy. Their race will be run sometime. " It is a long- 
lane that has no turning," I don't see any turning- for us 
yet, unless it is where it turns to the poor-house. 

Mrs. L. Betsy, I employed you first as a servant. You 
soon became more — a friend and adviser. Go, help your- 
self. I do n't ask you to share our poverty. 

Betsy. Nonsense I I '11 go and g-et supper. {Exit, B.) 

Mrs. L. Ever ready for the call of duty, true to us in 
prosperity, and more than a friend in adversity. Her pres- 
ence is a reminder that generosity and fidelity yet linger on 
earth. 

Alice. Mother, why does Nathan Carter persist in 
annoying- me with his unmanly attentions? Is the man a 
lunatic'? I hate the very name of Carter. 

Mrs. L. My darling child, the Carters have some new 
purpose to work out. What il may be time alone will tell. 
Simon Carter was here this afternoon, and asked me, as he 
did once years ago, to use my influence with you in favor of 
Nathan. Like the nephew, he made fair promises. When 
I spurned with indignation his base proposal, he threatened 
us with further persecutions. 

Alice, Simon Carter was here, too! Then Nathan did 
not meet me by chance this afternoon as he pretended. 

Mrs. L, No, he placed himself in your way and persisted 
in following you here contrary to your wishes as a part of 
their plot, I can not even guess their purpose. Our future 
is ominous. May Heaven protect us, for we know that 
Simon 'Carter is a dangerous man when determined upon 
evil. 

Alice, All we can do is to wait and work. Mother, we 
can not neglect the duties of the present to speculate about 
the future, {Exit, R.) 

Mrs, L, Oh, this bitter, pinching poverty! How I used 
to wonder that people could ever become so helplessly, 
hopelessly poor. God knows I realize it now as I never 
could when I was the petted child of a rich and indulgent 
father or the idolized wife of a noble, generous husband, 
whose means afforded him the opportunity to indulge my. 
slightest wish. Truly, our reverses have been swift and 
remorseless. Only four short j^ears ago we were in a beautiful 
home, surrounded by every comfort, and now we drain the 
very dregs of poverty's bitter cup, friendless and penni- 
less. 

Enter Betsy, R. 



Betsy, Mrs, Linton, George Harley has just come home 



m 



ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 23 

from the army, and Captain Wilson has been up seeing the 
Squire and Pettifog, the Squire's lawyer. 

Mrs. L. Harry and Lanty will soon be home, too, I sup- 
pose, as the war is over. Perhaps George brings some news 
of them. 

Betsy. None! Susan says he has never seen either of 
them, nor heard from them since he left home. 

Mrs. L. Alas! Others' sons may return, but mine is 
gone, never to return. Even he whom I hoped to call my 
son, by his silence, is dead to us. Betsy, can we not hope 
that Lanty may be to us again what he once was? I can not 
believe that everyone has deserted us. 

Betsy. Whatever Lanty may be to us, if he should 
return, I do not deserve that he should fill the place that he 
once filled. I drove him to enlist by an inconsiderate 
flirtation. 

Mrs. L. Is that the only reason for his silence? 

Betsy. I know of no other reason. 

Mrs. L. Did you say that Captain Wilson was at Squire 
Carter's? He could tell us something of Harry and Lanty. 

Betsy. Yes. if he chose. But, in my opinion, you would 
get precious little information out of him. You remember 
that Squire Carter said his influence might be felt even in 
the army. 

Mrs. L. I remember that. 

Betsy. Captain Wilson is that influence. He is the 
cat's-paw of Simon Carter, They are up to something- now, 
or that compound of meanness and deceit, Pettifog, would 
not be there. Susan says that Jim Black, Squire's hired 
man, overheard Mr. Pettifog say: " An ugly business if 
that nigger should turn up." Of course that nigger is 
Tabbs. I always believed that Tabbs's story about the 
forgeries of Simon Carter was true. I am more than ever 
convinced of its truth since the chief witness against Tabbs 
has said that he believed Tabbs never stole the horse which 
he was accused of taking. 

Mrs. L. Of course he never did. The horse had only 
strayed. Tabbs's story may be true. True or false, it matters 
little to us now. But would Squire Carter dare to carry a 
personal grudge so far? 

Betsy. Dare! These are times when men dare do any- 
thing without fear of punishment. Squire Carter knew 
that there would be plenty to back him in that. Think of 
poor Tabbs ordered by a mob to leave the country after a 
mock trial, and glad to get away alive, too. All because 
Squire Carter was afraid he might tell the truth in regard 
to some things which he preferred to remain secret. 

Mrs. L. Suppose Tabbs should venture to return, which 
is not at all probable, I do n't see how he could aid us or 
hurt Simon Carter in the least. 



24 ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 

Betsy. I don't see either; but lawyers don't say such 
things without some reason. 

Mrs. L, Did Susan hear anything- further from Jim 
about the conversation? 

Betsy'. No; only that they were talking- about letters, 
and, as he passed by the window, he saw on the table some^ 
papers which they seemed to be talking about. 

Knocking heard, L. A boy delivers a letter to 
Betsy, who goes to the door. 

Mrs. L. a letter for Alice. {Calls Alice, who enters, R.) 
Alice, here is a letter a boy has just brought for you. 

Alice. Why, who can have written to me; can it be 
from Harry? {Takes letter.) No; it has no postmark, and 
the word " present." {Tears it open. Beads aloud.) 

LiNTONViLLE, April 20, 1865. 
Miss Alice Linton: 

For some time past the Directors of this district have 
considered the advisability of employing- some one else to 
teach our school. We are satisfied that a change is now 
necessary. Your successor will take charge of the school 
next Monday. Very truly yours, 

Simon Carter, Clerk of Board. 

P. S. I have bought the house in which you live. You 
must move on the first of May. S. Carter. 

Alice. The last blow has fallen! 

Mrs. L. No, not the last. Their vengeance will follow 
us. 

Alice. Oh, the wretches! Can 't something- be done? 
If Harry were here! 

Mrs. L. Harry has evidently forgotten us; then why 
should we remember him? His coming would bring no joy 
to our hearts. 

Alice. I '11 not believe him false till I have heard his 
story. I will hope on till he tells me from his own lips that 
he wishes to be released. 

Mrs. L. Your hope is delusive. We are, indeed, for- 
saken by all who could render assistance in an hour of need. 

Alice. Not by all. Heaven watches over the distressed, 
and will some day avenge the wrongs of the innocent. 

Betsy. Well, we have our hands and the wide world to 
make a living in, if that 's any consolation. Help will come 
from some quarter. "The darkest hour is just before the 
dawning." 

Tableaux. Alice supporting her Mother, C; Betsy, 

lip R., regarding them SILENTLY. 

Curtain. 



ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 25 



ACT IV. 

A feio days have elapsed hetioeen Acts III. and IV. 

Scene: Table, C. Shabby furniture, same as in Act III. 
Seated Mrs. L. , B., Alice. L. of table, sewinq. 

Knocking, L. Betsy goes to door. 

Betsy. Why, Phoebe Day! Come in. {Enter Phcebe.) 

Phcebe. Good morning, Mrs. Linton. Good morning-, 
Miss Alice. 

Mrs. L. Good morning, Phoebe. Take a seat, Phoebe. 
We seldom see you now. Have you, too, forgotten old 
friends and the days when you found a place at our hearth? 
(Phcebe remains standing.) 

Phcebe. No, I have not forgotten you, Mrs. Linton. 
The thought of you and your trials has cost me many a 
sleepless night, many a bitter tear of regret. Mrs. Linton, 
I never shall forget your kindness to me. Oh! that I had 
been more worthy of it. 

Mrs. L. Why do you speak of unworthiness, Phoebe? I 
always found you faithful in all things. 

Phcebe. We all have our faults, and I have mine. I 
have not always done right. 

Betsy. Pshaw! You were always a good girl, Phoebe. 

Phcebe. No, no! I have been an ungrateful wretch. 

Mrs. L. What do you mean, Phoebe? 

Phcebe. Mrs. Linton, you could only hate me if I told 
you. 

Squire Carter rushes in, L. Hears Phcebe. 

Squire. Only hate you if you told! Girl, have you been 
babbling? Have you? If you have you will pay dearly for 
it. Go home. You know you are not allowed to visit here. 

Mrs. L. It is you, Simon Carter, who are forbidden to 
come here. 

Squire. By whom? 

Mrs. L. By the usages of society and the dictates of self- 
respect which would forbid a gentleman^ s entering where he 
knows his presence is disagreeable. After the wrongs you 
have inflicted on me, how dare you enter my house? 

Squire. Save yourself further hard words. It is not 
pleasant for me to be obliged to enter your house. I am 
here only to bring home a disobedient servant. 

Betsy. And hear what she would say to us. But we 
know enough about you already to consign you to a felon's 
cell. 

Squire. Know what? What did you say? Girl, have 



26 ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 

you betrayed me? Have you? Come with me at once. 
{Seizes her. She screams for help.) 

Betsy. Coward, do you dare lay hands on a woman? 
[Hits him with broom.) 

Phcebe. Save me, save me! I never will go with him 
again. He will kill me. 

Squire. Come on {Drags her forward)^ your tongue will 
leai'u by-and-by to stop its wagging, or I 'm mistaken. 

Enter J. Mc, L. 

J. Mc. Well, really, ahl Do you want any help, Mistah 
Carter? Is she crazy, ah? 

Squire. Help! Crazy! No, you lunatic. I can manage 
her myself. She has just run away from her work. That 's 
all. 

Betsy. Save her, Mr. Hopkinson, from the hands of 
Squire Carter. She has dared to assert her right to do as 
she pleases and he threatens revenge. 

Mrs. L. Mr. Hopkinson, protect us from Simon Carter, 
for he fears that we may learn the secrets of his villainy. 
Phoebe is no longer safe in his hands. 

J. Mc. I am astonished, ah! Squiah Carter a villain! 
Squiah, this is a free country. Maybe you had better keep 
your hands off this young lady. 

Squire. Mr. Hopkinson, I 'm slandered, basely slandered. 
I am merely claiming my just rights. 

Betsy. 'Rights! What rights have you over this girl? 
Mr. Hopkinson, please protect us, and I will be forever 
grateful. 

J. Mc. Well, it is weally a pleasure to hear you say so. 
I will serve you most willingly. I beg, pardon> Miss Bluff, 
but I believe the last time we met you preferred to have 
some one else as a protector. 

Betsy. I was just joking then, and did not mean to slight 
you, Mr. Hopkinson. You know we shall always be good 
friends. 

J. Mc. Only friends! Is that all? I would rather we 
were enemies than such friends. 

Squire. Deuce take your palaver. Phoebe, come with 
me. (Advances towards her.) 

J. Mc. I weally cawn 't allow you to take this young lady 
with my consent. 

Squire. I shan't ask your consent, or anybody else's. 
(Advances.) 

J. Mc. Look here, Squiah. It is exceedingly unpleasant 
for me to be obliged to hurt your feelings, ah, but I shall 
have to do so unless you modify your demands a little. The 
fact is you caw n't take this girl until she is willing to go. 

vSquire. Mr. Hopkinson, it seems to me you are unreason- 
able. But we have always been on good terms and I don't 



ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 27 

wish to quarrel with a friend about a trifle. I will just wait 
here until the girl is ready to go. 

Mrs. L. Mr. Carter, Phoebe shall remain here till she 
has finished her visit and wishes to go. 

Squire. Fool! This is my house! 

Mrs. L. {SiJiritedly.) Not till the first of next month, if 
you please, Mr. Carter. You may prolong your visit if you 
insist on it. But I hope you will excuse Alice and myself 
from entertaining you. Phoebe, come to the kitchen, and 
we will have a chat. {Exeunt Mrs. L., Alice and Phcebe, 
B.) 

Squire. (Aside.) I suppose I 'U have to go without her. 
I'll keep a close watch on this house, though. (Exit, L.) 

J. Mc. Squiah Carter seems determined to have his own 
way in this village — to run things, in fact. 

Betsy. Yes, and he is not very particular about the 
means he employs to run them, either. He has succeeded 
in getting possession of all Mrs. Linton's property, and now 
he dares to come here to this poor place to exercise his 
authoi'ity. 

J. Mc. This is a poor place. Miss Bluff, I should think 
you would get tired of staying here. There caw n't be much 
inducement for remaining, ah. 

Betsy. No, not much. (Aside.) And very little for 
leaving. 

J, Mc. Miss Bluff, you aw sacrificing yourself by toiling 
here this way. You aw actually giving Mrs. Linton your 
services. 'Pon my veracity you aw. 

Betsy. Mr. Hopkinson, I am not sacrificing myself by 
serving those who befriended me when I needed assistance. 

J. Mc. But you see. Miss Bluff, Mrs. Linton has no use 
for a companion as she once did when she could aff'ord it. 

Betsy. I owe all that I am to her. 

J. Mc. Ah ! Debt of gratitude. But, really. Miss Bluff, 
would you not like, ah, to take charge of a house of your 
own? 

Betsy''. No, I believe not. I think it would be trouble 
enough to hel}) take charge of one. 

J. Mc. Oh ! I meant to hel}?. Of course you could not do 
it all. Miss Bluff", will you be my bwide? I oft ah you my 
hand and heart. I admiah you so much. 

Betsy. Admire me, do you I Just as you do a new neck- 
tie or the latest style of coat, I suppose. When I marry a 
man I want one who loves me. 

J. Mc. Weally, Miss Bluff, I love you. You know I 
meant that at first. Will that be sufficient? 

Betsy. Mr. Hopkinson, I don't love you. I can not 
even admire you. I can respect you, and that is all. 

J. Mc. Is that all? Well, that is not as bad as it might 
be. Couldn't we get along with respect? Some married 
folks do not have even that. 



28 ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 

Betsy. Mr. Hopkinson, I don't think I shall ever marry. 
My mind is made up. Such a union as you speak of would 
lead to a life of misery. 

J. Mc. Couldn't you change your mind. Miss Bluff? 

Betsy. Not without some reasons, and I do n't see any 
reasons just now. 

J. Mc. If your mind is made up I shan't insist. Well, I 
suppose a g'irl is not to blame if she doesn't like a. fellah. 
(Aside.) 'Pon honoh, I believe some other fellah is to blame. 
Miss Bluff, I presume you aw very busy to-day, so I will bid 
you good aftehnoon. 

Betsy. Good day, Mr. Hopkinson. (Exit J. Mc, L.) 
Plague take the dunce; he might have guessed how matters 
stood. Maybe I am a bigger dunce than he is after all. I 
sent Lanty Nixon away in fun and he left in earnest. Now 
Hopkinson is gone. I guess I'm too particular. "Wit, 
money, and manners " do n't often go together. What 's the 
odds now! It 's decided, anyway. 

Enter Mrs. L., Phcebe, and Alice, E. 

Mrs. L. Is it for "better or worse?" 

Betsy. No. 

Mrs. L. Are you acting wisely, Betsy? Offers do not 
come every day. 

Betsy. Wisely or unwisely, I 'd rather die an old maid 
than be tied to that booby for life. 

Mrs. L. You may change your mind in a few more years. 
Phoebe, I think I have guessed the cause of your despon- 
dency. Are you thinking of " What might have been?" 

Phcebe. I, am thinking of what might have been if I 
had not fallen, miserably fallen. 

Mrs. L. Phoebe, you surprise me. What is the matter? 
What have you done? 

Phcebe. I have wronged you so deeply that no repent- 
ance can atone for the crime. Your suspicions in regard to 
your property are correct. The Carters' claims were based 
on forgery and falsehood. Mr. Linton never owed them a 
dollar. You have been basely defrauded, and I have been 
the means of enabling them to execute their criminal pur- 
poses. 

Mrs. L. Oh, Phoebe! Have you done this? And we 
have known you so long and trusted you! It is terrible. 
What have you done to aid them? 

Phcebe. I have been their accomplice. I took the miss- 
ing papers. Simon Carter forced me to do it. I deserve to 
sulTer for my guilt. Oh, that I could atone for my crime by 
some act of reparation in your behalf ! I would walk 
through fire to serve you. Simon Carter may find to his 
sorrow that a despised servant can wield a power which he 
does not dream of. 



ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 29 

Mrs. L. Deluded girl! Are you mad? 

Phcebe. I am telling the truth. 

Mrs. L. And you betrayed us? 

Phcebe. Yes I Curse me if you choose. 

Mrs. L. Curse you? This is terrible! 

Phcebe. I '11 save you yet, miserable coward that I am! 
It is not too late yet. They are both away to-day, and now 
is an opportunity which may not come soon ag-ain. I '11 try 
it. 

Mrs. L. What do you mean, Phoebe? (Exit Phcebe 
hastili/, L.) 

Alice. I believe the girl is crazy. 

Mrs. L. It is the lunacy of remorse. Her story is too 
probable to admit of any doubt. And what a tale of villainy 
it is. Theft! Falsehood! What I took for a lack of mercy 
in selling- our property proves to be a lack of honesty. And 
the man whom Mr. Linton trusted so implicitly is capable 
of robbing- his benefactor's wife and child ! 

Betsy. I always despised the whole set, anyway, for I 
believed they were not trustworthy. {Enter Simon Carter 
unnoticed.) The evidence is complete, and Simon Carter is 
a consummate villain. 

Squire. Villain, eh? Who dares say villain? Have a 
care how you blacken my character. I thought you knew 
me, Mrs. Linton? 

Mrs. L. I thought so, too, Simon Carter, but I find I was 
mistaken, for each day adds something to my knowledge of 
you and your lawless transactions. 

Squire. There is one thing you have not learned yet, 
and that is the extent of my power. Tempt me no further. 

Mrs. L. {With scorn.) Temjjt you! You have done your 
work only too well. Years ago people called you a villain. 
My husband and I disbelieved them because we thought you 
a persecuted man. You took advantage of his generosity to 
cheat him shamefully. Not content with your ill-gotten 
booty, you set yourself to rob his helpless family. You who 
were legally their protector. To accomplish your dark deeds 
you alienated our friends and strove to blacken our fair 
name. You stole the patrimony which you were sworn to 
protect. Ay, stole it! 

Squire. Mrs. Linton, you may yet repent these hasty 
words. You may be called upon to prove your assertions. 

Mrs. L. Repent my words! Never! No words can por- 
tray the depths of your infamy! Dare you ask for proofs? 
They shall be produced. Simon Carter, I know at last from 
an eye-witness the secret of your cunning plot. Where are 
my husband's lost papers? IX^ho has seen them since you 
forced them from the trembling hands of a servant? Dare 
you answer that? 

Squire. Mrs. Linton, this is all very fine, but it is mere 



30 ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 

assertion. I suppose that trembling' servant is Phoebe Day, 
who has been filling your ears with slander when she should 
have been at home at work. That "s easily settled. 

Mrs. L. Base wretch, begone! You have succeeded so 
far, but you can not subdue a will determined to oppose you 
to the last. You may crusJi, but you can not conquer. 

Squire. Who will believe a tattling servant? I shall 
not leave this house until you allow Phoebe to go with me. 

Mrs. L. Until Phoebe goes! She has already gone. 

Betsy. I Vi just like to see the man who could talk to 
me in that way. 

Squire. Mrs. Linton, where is that girl? I believe you 
are plotting mischief and have her concealed somewhere. 

Alice. We have told you she went home some time ago. 
Miserable man! 

Mrs. L. My child, leave that to me. 

Enter Phcebe, X., excitedly. 

Phcebe. I have the missing papers. 

Bquire. What 's that? Ah, you traitor, here again? I '11 
take care of you and the papers, too. {Seizes her. She breaks 
away.) 

Enter Nathan hastily, L. 

Nathan. Uncle, the soldiers are home, and Harry and 
Lanty are on the w^ay here now. Tabbs is with them and 
has told them all. 

Squire. Humph! Is that all? 

Mrs. L. At last! Thank God. 

Alice. Where are they? 

Betsy. When did they come? 

Nathan. Uncle, be quick. They are almost here. 

Squire. Silence, boy. I have a little job here. 

Nathan. Well, I can 't be responsible for your safety. 

Squire. Pooh! They dare not lay hands on me. I have 
the law on my side and they have not a line to prove Tabbs' 
story. Let them come. Now, girl! {Advances towards 
Phcebe. She screams. ) 

Enter Harry", Lanty^, and Tabbs, L. 

Harry. Alice! {Embraces her.) 

Alice. Harry! 

Tabbs. We 's jes in force, a-comin" like do bugs on de 
cowcumber vines. 

Mrs. L. God bless you, Harry. Back again, safe; and 
Tabbs, faithful old servant. {Shake hands.) 

Betsy. {Bu.shes to 'Lanty.) Why, Lanty! The same old 
Lanty Nixon. 

Lanty'. {Clasijs her waist. Kisses her.) Yes, the same 



ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 31 

Lanty, and not very old yet. And I infer from your demon- 
strations that you are still Betsy Bluff. 
Betsy. Yes. 

Enter-, X., Oscar Linton, introduced by Harry. 

Harry. Mrs. Linton, Colonel Oscar Linton. 

Mrs. L. Oscar Linton! [Pause.) My long lost son! 
[Clasps Jmn in her arms.) 

Oscar. Yes, a prodigal son! Heaven forgive him. Alice, 
the little pet of my boyhood. [They emhvace.) 

Alice. Oscar! Dear brother, Oscar! I always^thought 
you would return to us. 

Tabbs. Wish dis individual could jump into somebody's 
arms for two or three moments. But den de tilosomer says 
man often hugs a collusion. Golly! I kind o' think all 
huggin' is a collusion, anyway. 

Oscar. And Betsy Bluff, too, whom I have often led 
through the deep snow drifts on our way to school. [Shake 
hands.) 

Nathan. Brother Oscar, will you not recognize me? 

Oscar. Do not call me brother. You never were my 
brother. Tabbs has told us all. We '11 settle accounts 
later. 

Squire. We'll be with you. Come, Nathan. Girl 
(turning to Phcebe), will you go? 

Phcebe. Never! 

Oscar. What! Phoebe, our old servant! (Shake hands.) 

Phcebe. Yes, Master Oscar, I am Phoebe. Heaven be 
praised that you are spared to come back again to shield the 
helpless. 

Squire. Be careful what you say, girl. You have learned 
your place, I think. (Exeunt SQUIRE and Nathan, L.) 

Mrs. L. My darling boy, this is a joy unspeakable. But 
why have you never written in all these years? Seven long 
years have passed since the report of your death. Why 
have you been silent when a word would have changed a 
mother's grief into joy? 

Oscar. I have not been silent. I suppose you heard of 
the fatal accident in the mine, when my comrade, Jerry 
White, was killed and several others fatally injured. But I 
wrote the particulars to prevent anxiety at home, for I knew 
you would hear of the accident through Jerry's friends. 
How they ever got me among the killed is more than I can 
tell, unless it was because I left immediately for other dig- 
gings. I could not bear lo stay where poor Jerry was killed. 

Mrs. L. Your letter never came. Why did you not 
write again? 

Oscar. I received no answer, and my pride construed 
silence as an intentional slight. I left for California at 
bitter enmity with my father because I imagined he cared 



32 ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 

more for Nathan than for me. We quareled, and I vowed 
I would never return until the family needed my services. 

Alice. Tell us how you happen to come back with Harry 
and Lanty, in an officer's uniform. 

Oscar. That is soon told. When the war broke out I 
received a commission as second lieutenant, and have been 
promoted step by step to a colonelcy. I learned by accident 
a few months since that there was a Captain List in a regi- 
ment encamped near us. 

Alice. A Captain List! But I asked about Harry. 

Lanty. Well, Captain Harry List then. 

Alice. What! You a Captain, Harry? 

Tabbs. Dat am a fac. Dis wah 's gwine to hatch out a 
drefful sight of capens and ginerals. Dis individual will be 
a gineral too if he wasn't in de wah. He 's not Tabbs any- 
more. Jes call him, if you please. Adjutant Sutler. 

Lanty. I thought you were only assistant barber where 
we found you, Tabbs. 

Tabbs. See heah, Massa Nixon, when a gemman has 
done got up in the world I think it is mighty small business 
to cast up to him the misfortunate occurences of his poorer 
days. 

Mrs. L. Tabbs, you have not got up very high in the 
world when you return to us. We have reached the bottom 
of the scale. 

Tabbs. Massa Oscar will make dat scale tilt pretty 
lively t 'other way some of these days, I tell you. 

Harry. Things have changed since we left, and we never 
heard of your distress. Why didn't you write to us? We 
could have helped you, 

Alice. I concluded you would write to us when you 
wished to hear from us. 

Harry. I did write repeatedly. And you never got my 
letters? 

Alice. None after you left for the seat of war, 

Harry, I wrote several. Receiving no reply I feared 
that my letters were lost in the mails, and wrote at different 
times until I was forced to conclude that for some reason 
you wished to consider our engagement broken. 

Alice. How strange, that all our letters were lost? 

Oscar. That may not be very strange after all. Who 
was your first Captain, Harry? 

Harry. Captain Wilson. 

Oscar. And Captain Wilson was the instrument of Simon 
Carter's machinations. Probably the Captain could give 
you some information concerning those letters, 

Harry. I see it all now. Squire Carter's remark about 
his influence, the day I enlisted, is clear as daylight now. 

Enter Squire Carter and Nathan, L. They pause 

AT DOOR. 



ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 33 

Oscar. A remark dropped by a brother officer of mine, 
who was acquainted with the Captain, leads me at once to 
conclude that your letters never left his tent when delivered 
there. The Captain is said to have quit the service under 
suspicious circumstances to avoid a court-martial, owing to 
various irregularities. 

Squire. That is a very pretty story, but it cuts no figure 
here. Phoebe, will you go with me'? 

Phcebe. Never! Save me, Colonel Linton. I can tell 
you the wholfe plot. 

Squire. I forbid her to speak. {Steps forward threaten- 
ingly.) 

Oscar. [Ste^ps forward.) Go on, Phoebe, j^ou are in no 
danger. 

Phcebe. Simon Carter, I ajn your slave no longer. I will 
no longer remain silent when silence would cover up crime. 
Here are the missing papers. {Hands them to Oscar.) 
They will fully prove Squire Carter's dishonesty. 

Squire. Those documents are stolen from my private 
papers. They are mine, and I will have them. {StejJS for- 
ward threateningly. ) 

Oscar. Stand back! A civil tongue is a knave's best 
friend. 

Harry. You have to deal with men now, instead of 
women. 

Phcebe. Squire Carter keeps a strong iron box in his 
library. That box is always carefully locked, and I 've 
thought for a long time that the papers were in it. One day 
he accidentally left the key to the box on the table. I took 
an impression of it and had another key made. I couldn't 
stand the pangs of my conscience at the misery I had caused 
a bit longer. When he was away to-day I opened the box 
and found the papers. Mrs. Linton, can you forgive even 
me? 

Squire. That is a theft. I '11 have those papers. Oscar 
Linton, you are an accessory to this theft. You will have 
to answer to that charge. 

Oscar. So she is a thief, and I am no better. And who 
has made himself the chief culprit by reaping all the bene- 
fits of her crime? Answer that. You are not yet done with 
this, Simon Carter. You shall suffer the heaviest penalties 
of the law. 

Nathan. Give back the property. Uncle. We are foiled. 
Those fatal i3apers are our ruin. 

Squire. Never! Never! They have the law, but I have 
the money. We '11 see who wins. Besides, I can 't dispose 
of the property better than in defending it. Try the law. 
Ha! ha! 

Harry. You talk of appealing to law ! Wretch ! 

Oscar. His bluster is only the bravado of a bad man in 
a bad cause. 



34 ODDS WITH THE ENEMY. 

Alice. Can we recover our property? 

Oscar. [Looks at book and papers.) This is a pretty clear 
case. 

Nathan. Yes, your case is clear. My Uncle Simon has 
committed a great crime. But what is his sin compared 
with mine? I have turned against those who loved me 
dearly. 1 have betrayed a loving mother and an affectionate 
sister. With the basest ingratitude I have brought to want 
those who took me, a poor, ragged outcast, and made of the 
wretched orphan a respectable and intelligeht member of 
society. I have proved a viper in the bosom which cher- 
ished me. But, ,as God is my judge, my crime began 
because of my love for her whom I hoped to make my hon- 
ored bride. I loved her passionately, and hoped to make 
atonement by restoring all in common ownership. May 
God forgive me. I dare not ask forgiveness of those I have 
so cruelly wronged. 

Squire. Nathan, don't be a fool. I '11 fight 'em. 

Nathan. No, Uncle. You can not fight against the 
right. [Going, L.) 

Alice. Poor Nathan! I can forgive him. 

Mrs. L. Misguided, wretched boy. He is to be pitied. 

Phcebe. Mrs. Linton, dare I ask forgiveness? 

Mrs. L. Yes, of Him who pardons all who seek Him, 

Tabbs.' [Aside.) Wonder if anybody will forgive dis 
chile for bein' run away for hoss stealin'? 

Oscar. Mother, sister, loved ones all, my heart swells 
with joy when it feels itself once more entwined by the 
blessed ties of home. 

Alice. May we ever hold those ties sacred! 

Harry. Comrades of the camp and field, we have sur- 
vived the hardships of the march, and the dangers of the 
battlefield. But when we think of our stirring experiences 
and hairbreadth escapes, may we ever remember that, with 
silent heroism, faithful ones at home bravely battled for the 
right while the Odds were with the Enemy^ 

Mrs. L. Oscar. 

Harry, Alice. Betsy, Lanty. 

Jt., Tabbs, Phcebe. Nathan, Squire, np L. 

Simon Carter, near door, L., looks deiiantly at Oscar and 
Mrs. L. Nathan, downcast eyes; looks penitent. 

Slow Curtain. 



NOTHfflG BETTER 



TSAW THE 

FjEGirpAlBION SbF^IES 

ALL SORTS OF GOOD THINGS. 
GONTBNTS OF No. 6. PRICE POST-PAID, PAPER, 25 CENTS. 



Boy, A Brave, Temperance Recitation. 

Bachelor of Many, Otie 

Bill Nye's Hired Girl, Very Funny. 

Beggar Boy, Only ,}, Pathetic. 

Break ! Break ! Break ! 

Brakeman, About a, Comic Sarcasm. 

Christmas Carol, A 

Chinese Lilies, Beautiful Sentiment. 

Concert, A Home, Fine Domestic Tribute. 

Counting Eggs, Negro Dialect (.Good Encore.) 

Conquered, A Song for the 

Camp, jNIusic in, G. A. R. Recitation. 

Diffidence. 

Down the Stream, Pathetic Life Lesson. 

De Massa ob de Sheepfol'. 

Decoration Day Oration. 

Dead, He Woke the. Comic Negro Speech. 

Disappointment, Sore, A Vainly Sought Kiss 

Elder Sniffles' Courtship, Very Humorous. 

Elf-Child, The, Good Encore. 

Flood of Years. The 

Four Flies, The, Comic Boarding House Epi- 
sode. 

Fence o' Scripture Faith, The, Pathetic 
Scotch Dialect. 

God in History. 

Girls Study, How, Humorous, 

Grant, Eulogy on, Pathetic. 

Guilty, Yes, I'm, Temperance. 

Human Littleness. 

Ireland, Appeal to, Patriotic, Oratorical. 

Cs Fidelity Eternal ? 

Long Ago, Fine Retrospect. 

Love Song, A Concord, Extravaganza. 

Logan, A Tribute to, Patriotic. 

Mary Stuart, Scene from, Dramatic (fine). 

McDonald's Charge at Wagram, Heroic. 



Marriage, A Theosophic, Humorous. 

Maiden Martyr, Pathetic Poem. 

Mysterious Rappings, 

Model Woman, The 

Musket, The Man with a, Patriotic. 

Mary Jane, The Modern, and Mediaeval BaL 
lad of, Fine Shadow Picture Piece. 

Niagara's Sacrifice. 

Norine. 

Nothin' to Say. 

On the Other Train, Pathetic, 

Outlaws, The 

Price of a Drink,The,Temperance Recitation. 

Pin, A 

Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, Heroic. 

Parson Kelley. 

Prayer. 

Rainy Day, The 

Romans, Appeal to the, Oratorical. 

Santa Claus, A Sailor. 

Scrooge's Reformation. 

Sign Board, Temperance Poem. 

Sojourners. 

Soubrette's Revenge, The, Good Hit at Re~ 
porters. 

Stern and Wild, His Eye Was, Comic Anti- 
Climax. 

Serenade, A Hopeless, Comic. 

Scene from Richelieu, Dramatic. 

Toboggan Slide, Miss Splicer's, Comic. 

Tribute, A Just, Comic. 

Trouble in the Choir, Humorous Poem. 

Un Potpourri D'Elocution, Medley, 

Valedictory, A Modern High School, Bur- 
lesque. 

Why It Was Cold in May. 

What is a Minority ? 



T. S. DENISON, Publisher, 

163 Randolph Street, CHICAGO. 




THAN THE SCRAP-BOOK 

RECITATION SERIES. 



BV H. 7WT. SORBR. 



HERE BE CONCEITS BOTH -WISE AND WITTT, 



Price, Post-Paid, Paper, 25 Cents. 



CONTENTS OF NUMBER 7. 



Dying Captain, The (Pathetic). 

How Mr. Blinks Named the Baby, (Funny), 

Self Conceit. 

Legal Attachment, A. 

Graphic Story of the Light Brigade, A 

(Heroic). 
Dat Yaller Gown, (Negro) 
Party at Mr. Wigglesworth's, A. 
Our Minister's Sermon, (Poetry). 
Little Johnnie Visits the Dime Museum, 

(Capital Humor) 
Three Chairs, The. 
Transpositions. 
Jiners, The (Comic). 
Ensign Bearer, The (Patriotic). 
Where is My Hat ? (Comic). 
Mother's Angel, The. 
"Awfully Lovely" (Philosophy). 
Both Sides of the Story. 
Unfinished Prayer, The. 
Damascus. 

Orpheus and Eurydice, (Very Funny Poem) 
Coffee My Mother Used to Make, The 
First Piano in a Mining Camp, The. 
Loved, Not Lost, The. 
Ride on Black Valley Railroad, (Temperance; 
True Men. 

Silver Wedding, The. 
Finding of the Cross, The (Fine Poem). 
Very Provoking. 
Mission of the Press, The. 
Kerrected, (Yankee Dialect). 
Sorra the Day. 

Little Joe's Flowers, (Pathetic). 
Artie's Amen. 
Old Sweetheart of Mine, An 



(6u» 



Connor, (Pathetic). 

He Gets There, (A Fable). 

She Wanted to Learn Elocution, 

lesque). 
Naughty Girl's Life in a Hotel, A. 
Pilot's Story, The (Fine Poem). 
Old Man and Jim, The. 
Speech of the Hon. Perverse Peabody 

en the Acquisition of Cuba (Coraic)i, 
Nocturnal Sketch. 

Century from Washingtr'A., . "^ ^Patriotic), 
Triangular Tragedy, A. 
Brother Antonio, (Poem). 
Bell of Liberty, The. 
Deserter, A 

Edmund Burke, (Oration). 
The Diver. 

Aunty Doleful's Visit, (Humorous). 
A Field Battery, (Battle Scene), 
Owed to Halifax. 
Senator Ingalls' Great Speech on Death 

of Burnes of Missoun, (Eulogy). 
The Guest. 
Aunt Sophronia Tabor at the Opera* 

(Comic) 
Cleopatra.. 
Sword of Damocies, (Terrors of Con* 

science), 
Daisy's Story. 
Uncle, The (Fine Poem). 
Her Reply. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bowser's Family Jar. 
Easter Song. 

Cupid among the Strawberries, (A ptay) 
Hindrances to Happiness. 



T, S. DENISON, Publisher, 

163 Randolph St., CHICAGO. 



DENISON'S ACTING PLAYS. 

Price 15 Cents Each, Postpaid, Unless Different Price is Given. 



FAECES AND SKETCHES. 



M. V. 

In the Wrong Houee, 20 min. ..42 

Irish Linen Peddler, 40 min. .. 3 3 

Is the Editor in? 20 min 4 2 

John Smith, 30 min 5 3 

Just My Luck, 20 min 4 3 

Kansas Immigrants, 20 min. .. 5 1 

Kiss in the Dark, 30 min 2 3 

Larkins' Love Letters, 50 min. 3 2 

Limerick Boy, 30 rain 5 2 

Love and Rain, sketch, 20 m.. 1 1 

Lucky Sixpence, 30 min 4 2 

Lucy's Old Man, sketch, 15 m. 2 3 

Mike Donovan, 15 min 1 3 

Misses Beers, 25 min 3 3 

Mistake in Identity, sketch, 15 

min 2 

Model of a Wife, 25 min 3 2 

Movement Cure, 15 min 5 

Mrs. Gamp's Tea, sketch, 15 m. 2 

My Jeremiah, 20 min 3 2 

My Lord in Livery, 45 min 4 3 

My Neighbor's Wife, 45 min. ..33 

My Turn Next, 50 min 4 3 

Narrow Escape, sketch, 15 m.. 2 

Not at Home, 15 min 2 

On Guard, 25 min 4 2 

Pel secuted Dutchman, 35 min. 6 3 

Pets of Society, 30 min 7 

Played and Lost, sketch, 15 m. 3 2 

Pull Back, 20 min 6 

^Quiet Family, 45 min.. 4 4 

Realm of Time, musical al- 
legory, 30 min 8 15 

Regular Fix, 50 min 6 4 

Rough Diamond, 40 min 4 3 

Row in Kitchen and Politician's 

Breakfast, 2 monologues. .. 1 1 

Silent Woman, 25 min 2 1 

Slasher and Crasher, 1 h. 15 m. 5 2 

Squeers' School, sketch, 18 m.. 4 2 

Taming a Tiger, 20 min.. i..... 3 

That Rascal Pat, 35 min 3 2 

Too Much of a Good Thing, 50 

min 3 6 

Turn Him Out, 50 min 3 3 

Twenty Minutes Under Um- 
brella, sketch, 20 min 1 1 

Twobonnycastles,45 min. ... 3 3 

Two Gay Deceivers, 25 min .... 3 

Two Gents in a Fix, 20 min. .. 2 

Two Ghosts in White, 25 min. 8 

Two Puddifoots, 40 min 3 3 

Uncle Dick's Mistake, 20 min . 3 3 

Very Pleasant Evening, 30 m.. 3 

Wanted a Correspondent, 1 hr. 4 4 

Which Will He Marry? 30 m.. 2 8 
"VMiite Caps (The), musical, 30 

min 8 

Who Told The Lie? 30 min... 5 3 

Wide Enough for Two, 50 min. 5 3 
Women of Lowenburg, histori- 

caJ sketch, 5 scenes, 50 m.. 10 10 
Woman Hater (The) , 30 min ..31 



5 1 



M. F. 

Wonderful Letter, 25 min ..... 4 1 
Wooing Under DifBcultieB, 35 

min 4 3 

Yankee Peddler, 1 hr 7 3 

ETHIOPIAN FARCES. 

Academy of Stars, 15 min 

All Expenses: Or, Nobody's 

Son, 10 min 

Baby Coach Parade, 20 min.. 
Back from Calif orny ; Or, Old 

Clothes, 12 min 

Deaf, In a Horn, 12 min 

Hamlet the Dainty, 15 min .... 

Handy Andy, 12 min 

Haunted House, 8 min 

Joke on Squinim (The). 25 m.. 

Jumbo Jihm, 30 min 

Mischievous Nigger (The), 20 

No Cure, No Pay, 10 min 

Othello and Desdemona, 12 m. 
Prof. Black's Funnygraph, 15 

min 

Quarrelsome Servants, 8 min.. 

Rooms to Let, 15 min 

Sham Doctor (The), 15 min. . . 

Sports on a Lark, 8 min 

Stage Struck Darky, 10 min. .. 
Stocks Up, Stocks Down, 8 m.. 

Tricks, 10 min 

Two Pom peys (The) , 8 min — 

Uncle Jeff, 25 min 

Unhappy Pair (An), 10 min. .. 
Villikens and His Dinah, 20 m. 
Wax Works at Play, 30 min. .. 
William Tell, 15 min 



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4 


2 


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6 


1 


2 





2 





4 


3 


4 


3 


4 


3 


3 


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6 





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3 


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3 





3 


1 


3 





5 


3 


4 





6 


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3 





4 


1 


3 


1 


4 






NEW PLAYS. 

Charles O'Malley's Aunt (25c.) 

Cobbler (The) 

Convention of Papas 

Dude in a Cyclone 

First-Class Hotel, . . . .; 

Iron Hand (25c.) 

It's All in the Pay Streak (25c.) 

Indiana Man (25c.) 

Madame P's Beauty Parlors... 

New Woman 

Not a Man in the House 

OnlyColdTea 

Patsy O'Wang 

Rejected 

Topp's Twins (25c.) 

Treasure from Egypt 

Wanted : A Hero 



n. F. 
5 3 



1 
7 
4 
4 
5 
4 
6 





2 

4 
3 
4 



6 
3 6 




3 
4 
5 
6 
4 
1 



5 
3 
3 
3 
4 
1 
1 



The publisher believes that he can 
say truthfully that Denison's list of 
plays is on the whole the best se- 
lected and most successful in the 
market. Heio Flays will be added 
from time to time. 



T. S. DENISON, Publisher, I63 Randotph St., Chicago. 



,H'.^.?.^,?/ Of" CONGRESS 




===================^^ 016 112 399 7 # 

CH03CE PLAYS AND AMUSEMENT BOOKS. 



Plays by T. S. DENISON. 

That the plays written by T. S. Deni- 
son are, all things considered, the best 
for amateurs, is attested by their very 
large and increasing sale. 

New plays in this type. 

COMEDIES. 



Odds With the Enemy, 
Seth Greenback, 
The School Ma'am, - 
Only Daughter, 
Louva, the Pauper, - 
Under the Laurels, - 
Danger Signal, 
Our Country, Histori- 
cal Play, - - - 

Topp's Twins, 

It's all in Pay Streak, 

The New Woman, - 



ACTS. TIME. M. F. 

5, 2 hrs. 7—4 
4, I h. 15 m. 7—3 

4, I h. 45 m. 6—5 

3, I h. 15 m. 5—2 

5, 2 hrs. 9—4 
5, 2 hrs. 5—4 

2, 1 h. 45 m. 7—4 

3, 1 h. 10—5 

4, 2 hrs. 6—4 

3, ih. 40 m. 4—3 
3, I h. 3—6 



FARCES. 

ACTS. TIME. 

Initiating a Granger, - 25 m. 

Wanted, a Correspondent, 2, 45 m. 

A Family Strike, - - 20 m. 

Two Ghosts in White, - 20 m. 

The Assessor, - - - 10 m. 

Borrowing Trouble, - 20 m. 

Country Justice, - - 20 m. 

The Pull-Back, - • 20 m. 

Hans von Smash, - - 2, 30 m. 

Irish Linen Peddler, - 2,40 m. 

Kansas Immigrants, - 20 m. 

Too Much of Good Thing, 45 m. 

Is the Editor In? - - 20 m. 

Pets of Society, - - 20 m. 

Wide Enough for Two, - 45 m. 

Patsy O'Wang, - - 35 m. 

Rejected, - - - - 40 m. 

A First=Class Hotel, - 20 m. 
Mad. Princeton's Temple 

of Beauty, - - - 20 m. 

Dude in Cyclone, - 20 m. 

The Cobbler, - - - 10 m. 



M. F. 
8— 

4—4 

3—3 
—8 

3—2 

3—5 
8— 

—6 
4-3 
3—3 
5-1 
3-6 
4—2 

—7 
5—2 

4—3 
5—3 
4— 

—6 

5—3 
I — 



TEMPERANCE. 



The Sparkling Cup, 
Hard Cider, 

Only Cold Tea, - 



- 5> 



2 hrs. 12 — 4 
10 m. 4 — 2 

20 m. 3 — 3 



JK^Topp's Twins and It's all in 
the Pay Streak, 35c. each. All 
others, t5c. each. Postpaid. 
Large Catalogue Free. 



DIALOGUES. 

Friday Afternoon Dialogues. 

Twenty-five original pieces, - 25c. 

When the Lessons are Over. 

New Dialogues, New Drills, New 
Plays, 25c. 

Dialogues from Dickens. 

Thirteen Selections, - - . 25c. 
From Tots to Teens, 

Just out. Dialogues for youths, chil- 
dren, and little tots, also pieces for 
special occasions, - - - 25c. 

SPEAKERS. 

Friday Afternoon Speaker. 

For pupils of all ages, - - 25c. 

Choice Pieces lor Little People, 25c. 

Patriotic Speaker. 

Carefully selected from best authors, 

25c. 
Dialect Readings. 

Irish, Butch, Negro, Scotch, etc., 25c. 

Sunday School Pieces, = 25c. 

5crap=Book Recitations. 

A choice collection of pieces, pathetic, 
humorous, descriptive, prose and 
poetry. Eleven Nos., per No. 25c. 

TABLEAUX AND SHADOWS. 

Shadow Pictures, Pantomimes, 

Charades, and how to prepare them, 

25c. 
School and Parlor Tableaux. 

For school, church and parlor, 25c. 
Wax Figgers of rirs. Jarley. 

With full directions for preparing, 25c. 



25c. 

25c. 
25c. 
35c. 
15c. 



OPERETTAS. 

Bonnybell, - - - - 
Elma, the Fairy Child, 
Eulalia, - - 
Enchanted Wood, 
Pocahontas, - - . - 

SPECIALTIES. 

Private Theatricals. 

How to select plays, form, cast, re- 
hearsals, raiDi lightning, etc., 25c. 

Negro riinstrels. 
Just the book needed. Tells the 
whole thing, ... - 25c. 

Work and Play. 
A gem of a book for children in school 
or church entertainments, - 25c. 

Pranks and Pastimes. 
All sorts of games, puzzles, shadow 
scenes, etc., for evening parties, 25c. 

Social Card Games. 
An excellent manual of all common 
games, also tricks and diversions, 35c. 

Debater's Handbook (cloth), - 50c. 

Good Manners, - - - - 25c. 

Everybody's Letter=Writer, - 25Q 



T. S. DENISON, Publisher, 163 Randolph St., Chicago. 



